Make the World Bright
by aviyah.halpern
Summary: One day, Romano and America wake up in a strange new world, in which all the colors and emotions have disappeared. They must complete a quest to restore this world, and if they don't do it in time...well, better not to think about it. Eventual Romerica.
1. Down the Rabbit Hole

Hello, everyone! Finally my fic account sees some action, aw yeah. Before I get into the story, some preliminary notes:

The main characters in this story are Romano and America, and they're also the main pairing. Eventually. Other Hetalia characters aren't really around. Since this takes place in a different world, I populated it with some OCs, but no worries, they're really not the stars.

There will be gratuitous swear words and general dirty language.

I have a dirty sense of humor, but otherwise, no sexy times. Expect some fluff and sappy shit when the dorks finally do get together, and maybe even a little fade to black... but nothing close to being explicit.

I don't have this story planned out, but there may be some sad things, and/or horrific things, just because my tastes go that way. I promise I'll try to keep it very light, if I do have it, and to add in specific warnings if the time comes!

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><p>It was yet another stupid world meeting that South Italy found himself in. Stupid potato bastard just now managed to calm everyone in the room down enough for the next person to give their presentation—though honestly, Romano felt that his brother's talk on pasta was far better than whatever bullshit they were actually presenting on.<p>

And of course, who should the next presenter be, but America. While the blond prepared his slideshow, Romano could feel his… _feelings_ for the (handsome) idiot flare up again, which he suppressed immediately. Romano had been having (and reflexively fighting off) these idiotic, ooey-gooey, cheesy feelings for America for so long now, he'd imagine that they would have just died away. But no; they were just as strong today as though he were a goddamn schoolgirl falling in love for the first time, which was really stupid, because shouldn't a two-thousand-year-old nation be better than that?

From the corner of his eye, Romano caught his brother smiling at him like an idiot and flashing him a thumbs-up. Veneziano was the only person who knew about Romano's crush, and he was dog determined to get his brother to hook up with America—even though Romano made it clear, time and time again, that he wasn't interested in doing so.

"Listen up, everyone!" America shouted, slamming his hands on the table, which caused every head in the room to turn to him. He nodded towards his slideshow, titled, 'How Cinnamon Will Save The World'. "I hope you're all hanging onto your socks, because I'm about to knock them right off!

"So, my scientists have been doing some research into cinnamon. Here's a picture of me taking the cinnamon challenge!" America advanced to the next slide, showing an image of his scrunched-up face surrounded by wisps of the brown powder. Romano could swear with a straight face that his idiocy was not endearing at all. "That wasn't for any experiments though, I just wanted to try it! Anyway, as it turns out, terrorists also love cinnamon! Who'da thought?

"I'm thinking we can lure them out of their hiding places with this new information!" He brought up the next slide, which had an image of a bowl with brown liquid in it, and another image of a brown cube. "We mix some cinnamon and water together—probably throw some sugar in there too—and let it sit out around where the terrorists are! They'll definitely come out within a day to have some, and then, bam! We got 'em right where we want 'em! We can have armed forces waiting nearby to capture them!

"Before then, though, we'll have figure out if we want to leave the bait as a liquid, or freeze it before we use it. A sweet cinnamon ice pop would probably be more appealing, but we do run the risk of having it melt away too soon… what do you guys think?"

America was grinning ear-to-ear and eager for replies, but he was only met with stunned silence. He appeared confused with the reaction, before his eyes lit up in realization. "Oh, but don't worry, you guys! My boss will be sure to give them a fair trial! Probably, maybe."

"So daft, as usual, America," England finally said, sipping some tea. "The topic for today is global warming, you know."

"Oh... Okay! Ending terrorism in the world should really be our top priority, but if you wanna stick with global warming..." America shuffled through his notes, obviously not actually reading from them. "So, studies have shown, that warm air is also attracted to cinnamon—"

"Fucking shit, America!" England shouted, getting to his feet and looking ready to jump over the table and throttle the other nation. Next to him, France flicked his hair back and started another monologue about how he was much more refined than the other two. In another moment, Russia started sneaking off somewhere with his pipe, Veneziano tried to bring the topic back to pasta, Switzerland waved his gun around and shouted threats, Germany looked ready to explode...

And Greece, as usual, was napping away. To Romano, this seemed like the best idea right now. So, he pulled a pillow out of his briefcase (as this was certainly not the first time he napped during a meeting), got comfortable, and then let himself be taken away by sweet, deep slumber...

* * *

><p>Romano dreamed about America; he dreamed that America swept him off his feet and carried him off to some strange and distant land. It was just the two of them together in a dense forest, and everything looked bleak and gray.<p>

America set Romano down, and then whispered in his ear, "We're going to bring happiness back." The proposition sent a shiver of pleasure up his spine. Soon they had peeled each others' clothing off, and then...

… Then they were going at it like rabbits. Holy shit did it feel good. Romano could really feel it in his shoulders, as they moved in time with the rhythm... actually, out of rhythm? And America was calling his name over and over, but it was starting to sound too casual...

"... Italy. South Italy. Hey, wake up." America was jostling Romano's shoulders—way too roughly.

Finally Romano opened his eyes, the bleak and gray forest giving way to… bleak and gray walls. The next thing he saw was America, looking down on him, and—"shit!" Romano bolted upright and scooted away a few feet. He looked down at his lap and—yes, he fucking knew it, _of course_ he was tenting right now. He could hear America snort and felt his face flush like it was on fire.

Romano awkwardly tried to close his legs around the problem, and… and now America exploded into full-on, side-splitting laughter. "The fuck are you laughing about!?" Romano spit out, his usual anger finally overtaking his embarrassment.

"Pff—hahaha! It's just, it's—oh god, _and your face_, just—haha! You, you've been around for how long now? And, and—just, your reaction! Hahaha!" America seemed to have some troubles regaining his composure, but when he finally peeked up and saw the glare on Romano's face, he seemed to calm down enough to speak normally. "Do you, uh… you need a little privacy there? Pfff."

"_No._ You fucking bastard."

"Hey, I'll give you a few minutes to, uh, fire the gun, no biggie. Happens to the best of us. I'll go have a look around!" Without waiting for a reply, America got to his feet and left the room.

With the noisy hamburger bastard gone, Romano finally had a chance to check out where he was. The room he was in had stone walls, one door, and a single tiny opening in the wall that served as a window. It looked like something from an old castle, although that was where the familiarity ended; he had absolutely no clue where he was.

On the floor was some kind of... Magic circle, and there were some trinkets scattered about the room. Stranger yet, was the fact that there just wasn't any color here. Romano looked down at his hands and clothes; those were still normal. And even though he'd been so frazzled when America was there, he was pretty sure that the blond looked normal too.

But everything else... It was like someone opened this room in Photoshop and turned the saturation off. Just what was going on...?

Suddenly, there was a loud _slam!_ coming from where the door was, and Romano jumped out of his skin. "Hey, South Italy!" America's voice shouted, and Romano turned around in time to see the blond barging in with someone else by his side. "Look who I found!"

"Son of a bitch!" Romano spat, once again calming his nerves. "Don't do that!" After a deep huff, he finally took a moment to look at the newcomer; she was a short woman, and entirely unfamiliar. Like the rest of their surroundings, she was also colorless, but Romano could still tell that her skin and long hair were dark.

"Haha, why are you so jumpy?" America asked, trying to piece the situation together. "Oh! Were you jerking it just now? Oops!"

Romano felt that fucking blush all over again. "N-no! No the fuck I wasn't! Shit, don't say that in front of a lady!"

"Haha, don't worry, South Italy! Lu here doesn't react to anything!" America nodded towards the woman. "She doesn't care!"

And really, the woman—Lu—did appear apathetic. But still, Romano frowned; even if she didn't care, it was still inappropriate.

"Are you ready to go, Mister South Italy? We can explain everything in the throne room," Lu said. Romano grumbled a yes under his breath—and yes, his tent problem went away on its own by then, _thank you very much_—and the three of them left the room.

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><p>With Lu leading the way, the group navigated through the building. Its narrow stone halls, tiny window-holes, and sconces—which were holding actual, honest-to-god torches—gave Romano the impression that they were in some old European castle.<p>

But this was still fucking bullshit, because, a.), he and America were still the only _things_ around here to be in color, and b.), the architecture was way the fuck wrong! Romano fucking knew his castles, visited castles from all over Europe for as long as the damn things existed, and this castle was like nothing he'd ever seen! The cramped hallways were like something out of a French, early-Renaissance monastery, the bricks looked like more of an English style, the decorative sconces looked similar to the ones he'd seen in a Florentine palace, and the fucking window holes—

"Hey," America said, nudging Romano in the shoulder and snapping him out of his inner rant. "You look like you're ready to murder the walls."

"Tch, bastard," Romano replied, trying to bring himself back into reality. "This place is all wrong."

"Yeah, I know—what happened to all the colors here?"

Romano sighed through his nose, as though he were releasing the steam from inside his head. "...Yes, well, that's wrong too. You know where we are?"

"Nope! I didn't expect to wake up here, either. I think England's trying to play a joke on us or something…"

"Us? I get that you two are butt-buddies or some shit, but why me?"

"I dunno. Because he's an asshole?"

The two of them faced forward, Lu still a few paces ahead and completely silent. They went through hallway after hallway, with their footsteps as the only sound. _Clack, clack, clack…_

A foreboding feeling started to settle in the pit of Romano's stomach. The mismatched styles in architecture which had enraged him so much earlier, were now filling him with dread. This wasn't some… some movie set designer's half-baked idea of an old castle, was it? It was too detailed, too big, there was no way it was just for a movie or something gimmicky like that. But otherwise, something like this shouldn't exist…

And he just noticed this, but everyone was so damn silent. Which meant America was being silent, too. No dirty jokes, no grandstanding… he glanced up at the man next to him. America's face had just the faintest sign of tension, but as soon as Romano saw it, the younger nation seemed to notice he was being watched, and immediately shot a big smile his way.

Shit. Shit shit shit _fuck _motherfucking _shit_. What the hell was going on? Dammit. '_Okay Romano, step one: Do _not _lose sight of America. Do not leave him.' _That idiot—that strong idiot who held so much sway in the world and even managed to survive going toe-to-toe with Russia—was Romano's safest bet in this strange new place. He shuffled around in his pocket, and was relieved to find that he had a spare white flag on him. At least he had something of his own he could use.

Finally, after a long silent journey that managed to set all of Romano's nerves on edge, they stopped in an open room that held two thrones in the back. Sitting in one of the thrones was a wrinkly old man, dressed in regal clothing, with so much light hair in his long beard and in his ears, though none on his head. Of course, he was grayed out, just like everything else in this place.

He looked up at the group as they came to a stop before him, though his face remained neutral—just like Lu's. "Welcome," he greeted, as Lu gave him a quick bow. "Welcome to the Castle of Mierda; I am King Fanny."

America and Romano just stared at him, shocked. Then they looked to each other. Then… then America fell to the ground, laughing hysterically.

"Oh—oh god! Haha—man, shit, that's—that's so—! I knew it! Fuck, England always did get so elaborate with his pranks."

Despite America's outburst, Romano still felt dread. That explanation just didn't seem to suit this, and his suspicions were confirmed by the king's reply, "England? Who is that?"

"Oh, Arthur, then," America said, finally back on his feet and normal again. "You know, massive eyebrows, messed-up hair? Oh, you don't have to play dumb anymore, he had me going for a little bit there. Just for a really, tiny bit. But the jig's up!"

Lu stepped before them and cleared her throat. "There is no England," she began, addressing the two countries. "As I said to you earlier, Mister America, this world is different from the one you're from. I'm not sure how different our worlds are, but certainly… you two are not from here. All your friends, places you know, they belong in the place you left behind."

Romano froze and his blood chilled. Their world, she said… it was _left behind?_

Was he stuck here, in this colorless place? No more Veneziano, Mediterranean sea, Italian weather, pizza, tomatoes, _fuck_, even just the color red?

"So," America said, folding his arms over his chest, "why are we here?"

Lu responded, "I summoned you here. Our world is sustained by the power of the seven Ether Crystals, and for some reason, their power has been fading recently. We had some reserves of magic stored in case of emergency, and used the last of it for a spell that can call forth a pair of fearless heroes."

"Then that means, I—the two of us—we get to be the heroes?"

"No!" Romano snapped, finally able to participate in reality again. "No, this is just stupid! It's buillshit! You expect me to believe this shit? Go along with it? Where are we, really? I'm sick of this, and I'm going home, dammit!"

"You can't go home," Lu said, calmly, and it made Romano's blood flare. "The Ether Crystals are everything. They are the source of our magic. We cannot send you back home until they are restored. Furthermore—"

"_Bullshit_, this is bullshit!"

"—furthermore, they're getting worse. Listen carefully. Our world used to have colors. We had emotions once. But they have all faded. Our weather has calmed. No more hot or cold. It's getting worse."

"Why the fuck should I care?"

"Hey, South Italy—" America tried, but he was cut off by a hard glare from Lu.

The glare lasted only a moment before her face relaxed again, any trace of anger gone as though it were never there. "You should care. If our world dies while you're in it, what do you think will happen to you?"

"Why you—" Romano was ready to punch her, cry, kick the thrones down, anything, _anything_—

"Hey, South Italy! You know what this means!" America suddenly said, and that obnoxious cheer his voice usually held was back. "We're the heroes! And you get to work with the number one hero! Which would be me, if you were wondering." He laughed, pulled his stupid bomber jacket off, and wrapped it around Romano's shoulders.

Romano glared at the oversized, stupid thing. America had a tight grip on it, and dammit, he couldn't really move his arms like this. He shot his glare up to America and said, "The fuck do you think you're doing?"

"You looked cold! I just did what a true hero would."

"Well, I'm fucking _fine_, so get this stupid thing off—"

"You have a funny way of being excited! Come on, we're going to get to save the day!" America slung his arm around Romano's shoulders and made grandiose gestures with his other one as he explained. "We'll save the whole world, and when we see everyone else, we'll get to brag about how awesome we were. Shit, even Prussia will have to admit it, won't he?"

The jacket was soft on the inside, smelled like leather, and… Romano noticed that he was feeling less wild, and more warm.

"So, South Italy? Whaddaya say?" America had a huge grin and loosened his grip.

"...Call me Romano, bastard. South Italy sounds weird." Then Romano realized how this whole scene appeared on the outside, with him cuddled up in America's jacket, and _shit fuck stop having feelings, loser, _and he swiftly swung the jacket off and held it up to America. "And seriously, I'm not fucking cold, asshole!"

America just laughed as he shrugged it back on, and then flashed a thumbs-up to Lu and King Fanny.

After which he had to explain to them what the thumbs-up gesture meant, and _finally_ after that, Lu led them out of the throne room to prepare for their adventure, or whatever.

As they walked, Romano was trying (and failing) to come to terms with the idea that they were really in a different world. '_All right, Romano, just focus on breathing...'_ Blowing a gasket was really not going to help anyone.

'_For now, just play along. Follow along with the others. No matter what, make sure to stick with America...'_

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

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><p><strong>Translationculture/whatever notes:**

**Mierda**: It's Spanish for "shit". I figure that both America and Romano would at least know bits of Spanish, and if there's any part of the language they'll go out of their way to learn, it'd be the bad words.

**Fanny:** English word, and in America, it's just the cutest, most babyish way to say "butt"! But I hear in England, it's actually a super dirty way of saying "vagina"...

Lu doesn't mean anything, by the way. I just thought it was a cool name!

**Notes on Hetalia for my friends who don't know much about the show, but they're still reading this because they are supremely awesome people:** While all the other countries are just represented by one character (so, just one America, for example), there's two Italies: a north one, and a south one. The north one, sometimes called Veneziano, and sometimes just called Italy because he's like the default, is the character the show is named after! He's pretty spineless and carefree, and tends to be adored by others. South Italy, usually just called Romano, also has a cowardly streak, but he's foul-mouthed and more isolated from the others than the north is. And, by the way, the two Italies are brothers.

And the England-Arthur thing? At some point, the author officially released human names for the major Hetalia characters, saying that those were the names they used in public, so that it wouldn't sound weird that they're openly calling each other countries. As you may have guessed, Arthur would be England! Just about anyone who spends like a few days in the Hetalia fandom will already know these names by heart. Aw yeah!

**Extra notes: **I can't believe I've written this! Ahhh it still feels a little weird. I was working on a Romerica fic for NaNoWriMo, got royally stuck on what to do, but I still had all this Romerica steam I needed to blow off! So, I just... got this idea somehow and started writing. I want this to be a story where I just go along with what comes to mind and write it as I think it, because it's good to just get _something_ out there! So I don't really know what'll happen next, but I'll try and throw something up here! Soon enough, I hope.

Ah, and for anyone interested, my name on tumblr is aviyah-halpern. Until next time, everyone!


	2. First Stop is the Golden Crystal

"Hey, Romano, you ready to go?"

"Nnf." Romano rolled over and swatted at the stupid hand trying to shake him, still not opening his eyes. "Five more minutes... asshole."

"Come on, we gotta get a move on! The world isn't going to save itself."

"...what." Romano finally peeked an eye open and—shit! America!? And they were hanging out in some forest that had no color... Oh. _Oh_. That's right.

As Romano sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, it all came back to him; being stuck with America, in some other world, where they had to bring back all the colors and shit... right.

After the meeting with King Fanny (pfft), Lu led the two nations out of the throne room to prepare them for their journey. She gave them a map indicating where all the crystals were, as well as some magic bag that was infinitely large on the inside. Of course, Romano insisted on being the one to hang on to those things; he didn't think America could carry them for more than two days without losing them.

After a moment, Romano spoke up again. "It's still hard to believe we're in some... some alternate world, or some shit like that."

"Yeah, I know... But you do believe it, right? I mean, just from—"

"_Yes_, bastard, I _do_ believe it! Shit, you don't need to explain it all to me." Even without the lack of colors around them, and without the magical bag he was holding onto, Romano could still tell they were in a different world; deep down, it just didn't feel like they were on Earth anymore. As a nation, he could sense these things! And he was pretty sure that America, dense as he was, could also feel it.

"Just making sure, man!" America said, cutting into Romano's musings. "You didn't look too certain in the throne room back there."

"Shut the fuck up."

America waved it off with a hand. "Hey, whatever, it's all cool. Anyway, let's have a look at that map!"

Romano grumbled under his breath as he pulled out the map. He didn't like taking orders, especially from an idiot like America… but this _was_ the sensible thing to do. By the time he had it unfolded, America just plopped on the ground next to him. And... their shoulders were touching. Romano could feel warmth shoot up his spine, and _come on, quit it already!_ Shit, he didn't want to deal with this the whole time he'd be stuck here with this moron!

America's hand suddenly shot across his vision, pointing somewhere on the map. "So this is where we started, right? Castle... Pfff. Mier—"

"Yes, Castle Mierda, bastard." Romano swatted away America's hand and pointed to a nearby spot. "And this area is where we are now." Looking at the map again now, Romano could see... those damn crystals were fucking scattered. It looked like they'd have to travel around some small continent before they could reach all of them... god dammit.

"I say we find the crystal that restores everyone's happiness first!"

"Are you fucking kidding me!? What if it's way the fuck out in the middle of fucking nowhere!? We're going to the closest one first, you burger brained dumbass!"

America hummed in thought as he looked back at the map. "...Well, would you look at that! The crystal for happiness _is_ the closest one! It's right here, the Golden Crystal. I asked Lu about it before we left!"

"Bastard," Romano said, once again swatting away America's hand and calming his stupid feelings. "Why are you so fucking set on that one, anyway?"

"Because, happiness is the most important thing! So we should definitely restore that one first!"

Romano just scoffed at that. He supposed that made sense, coming from the nation who always had a fucking smile on his face. "Whatever. Let's just get this shit over with."

At that, they both stood and continued through the forest, towards the Golden Crystal—apparently housed in a city called Felicity.

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><p>Two days later, they finally arrived at the city, and it couldn't come soon enough for Romano. He had to live off of America's shitty chocolate the whole time—which, by the way, the bastard seemed to have an endless supply of it stuffed in his uniform, somehow—and generally live out in the middle of the woods. <em>Gross.<em> At the very least, Romano could be grateful that America was knowledgeable (and all too excited) about camping, so he didn't have to deal with setting up the tough shit… but _still_. His uniform was all ruined now! He frowned as he tucked away some frayed strands of thread; it still looked like a military uniform on the outside, but decades ago, Romano started attending the meetings in imitations made of finer fabric, and more flattering tailoring.

As for the city of Felicity? Romano took a good look around: it was magnificent! ...Or, at least, it seemed that it used to be that way. The ground was fully paved with bricks, the buildings housed large and intricately designed windows, and the fountains they passed held nice statues, mostly of smiling women. On the other hand… the walkways appeared eerily large, with barely anyone bustling about in the city; the beautiful windows had grime caked on throughout their curving panes; and the fountains were still, their spouts looking dirty, and the water they held, dark and stagnant.

Romano felt relieved when America found a tavern nearby, and it actually had someone inside. If everyone in the world stopped having emotions… then, Romano reasoned, they were probably all indoors, instead of outside doing… normal outside things.

It was too bad, though, that the barkeeper was the only person inside. He was sitting on the other side of the counter, head down in his arms, and for a moment Romano wondered if he was dead. At the sound of the door closing and footsteps, however, the man raised his head, looking bleary.

Without waiting for a greeting, the nations sat at the counter, and America explained, "Hey, we're looking for the Golden Crystal. It's supposed to be in this city—you know anything about it?"

The man blinked slowly, looking like he never saw another human in his life until now. Finally, in a somewhat raspy voice, he answered, "...Yes. It is Felicity's number one attraction… why do you ask?" Romano held back a groan—this fucker spoke slower than a snail.

"We're trying to recharge it! Or something like that. Where is it?"

"Hm… it is sitting in a dedicated shrine, just outside of Felicity. If you go north, you will find the forest trail that leads directly to it."

"Awesome! Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go, Romano!" The moment America got up, however, a loud rumble rang out. His face fell for a moment and he added, "although, I could sure go for a burger right about now…"

"Tch, stupid bastard. Does anyone in this world even know what a burger is?" Romano snapped, also getting up.

His plans to crush America's hopes and dreams fell apart, though, as the barkeeper spoke up. "I know what a burger is. The burgers of Felicity are our second largest attraction. Shall I make one up for you?"

"Oh, hell yes!" America said, promptly sitting back down. "It's been too long!"

"...What." Romano shot the other nation a glare. "We have some important hero shit to do, or whatever you call it, and you're just going to sit here and eat a damn burger?"

"Hey, the Crystal will still be there when I'm done! Come on, man, as awesome as Hershey's is, even I can't survive on that alone!"

"And what the hell am I supposed to do?! I don't want a damn burger!"

"I dunno. Order something else?"

Romano eyed the barkeeper, as well as any of the preparation equipment he could see from the bar. Obviously, this place hadn't seen business for a while, and also obviously, the barkeeper no longer had any fucks to give about this place. "I'll pass, bastard. The shit I get here might even be worse than your chocolate, and dammit, I'm not going to chance that experience."

"Well, suit yourself! If you're feeling that antsy, though, why don't you go ahead and find the Crystal on your own? Can't be too hard!"

"_Fine_, asshole. I'll go and actually get the fucking thing we need. I hope you choke on your burger, bastard." And with that, Romano stormed out of the building, and towards the north.

* * *

><p>Just as expected, there was a trail through some more forest leading out of the north of town. It appeared to have been scenic in its glory days, though now, with its wilting flowers and general silence, it was just depressing.<p>

Also, as Romano soon learned, the trail was fucking _long_. Fuck. About ten minutes in, he still couldn't spot any shrines behind the thick foliage, and—wait.

Romano stopped and tried focusing on the sounds around him. It was dead silent here, but he thought he heard—there they were again! The distinct sound of footsteps.

They grew louder, and soon enough, they were accompanied by a light and effeminate laugh.

"Well, hello there. You don't look like you're from around here," the feminine voice said. It was oozing with sweetness, but it just didn't sound right, it sounded as though… Russia had said it. If he were a woman, that is.

Romano turned around and saw two people emerge from the dense forest; one was a tall man with a bald head and an impressively curled mustache, while the other was a cute woman all dressed in frills and ribbons. Oddly enough… they weren't grayed out. Their chilling red eyes made that much clear… _shit_. Romano didn't like the look of those eyes.

"What's it to you?" he asked, turning to face the newcomers and backing away.

The girl giggled. "You just look like a pest, that's all. Klein, let's squish the icky bug!"

Romano frowned—he wasn't an icky bug! He was a handsome and romantic Ital—shit! Romano turned and bolted for the forest as soon as the large man moved towards him. As good as Romano was at running away, though, the forest proved to be too thick, and he couldn't get a good head start through all the damn trees. Just as he was trying to find a dark spot to hide in, he could feel something pull on the back of his collar, and—_whoosh!_ He was easily pulled through the air and back out in the open.

Romano struggled to hang onto his uniform's collar and _breathe, dammit_, as Klein held him up about a foot above ground.

Below him, the girl giggled. "Good night, little buggy," she sang out, and in the next moment, everything went black.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

* * *

><p>No cultural notes or whatever that I can think of this time. Klein is simply the name of a mathematician, because when I'm stuck on names, that's where I turn to! Also, I freely admit, I love that character archetype of a cute girl in cute clothes who's actually super evil. Nui Harime and Diane Makepeace are awesome examples that come to mind~<p>

I spent so long on this chapter just overthinking things! My brain needs to stop doing that. I'm hoping to get better about that, the more I write!

Until next time, folks! I hope all of you have a lovely day~


	3. Know Thy Enemy

When Romano awoke, he found himself sitting up... and also, tied to a chair. He saw that he was somewhere indoors now, and… _of course_. Those two strangers from earlier were here, too.

"Well, hello there, little buggy. Did you sleep well?" the girl asked, once she noticed the nation was awake.

"...'m not a bug," Romano managed to grunt out. He had no idea where he was now.

"Sure you are! You even have a little feeler riii~iight here~!" She pulled on Romano's flyaway curl, _hard_, and he winced. Thankfully, she let go soon after, and pointed over to the large man behind her. "Should I have Klein over there squash you with his fists?"

"...what?"

The girl giggled and ruffled Romano's hair. "Oh, your face! It's been so long since I've met someone who can actually… react. Killing you is going to be so much fun~!"

"Wait—shit—killing!?"

"Your hair is so nice, you know?" She ran a hand through his soft locks. "I don't know if I've ever met anyone with hair so nice! Maybe I should, oh… cut it all off before I kill you~?"

"Not the hair!" And already, Romano could feel the tears gushing out.

Again, the girl giggled. "That certainly sounds like an invitation to cut your hair. And I know Klein has some of his own lovely ideas on what to do with you~!"

"P-please don't kill me and cut off my hair!" Romano struggled against his restraints as he instinctively tried to flail his arms. "It's really not as fun as you think! A-and, and I still have so much more to live for!"

"Oh, you're such a funny little buggy~! Please, do—"

"Ah, shit, I still need to get back at that potato bastard! My stupid brother was going to let him stay over at our place, and I bought some markers to draw a mustache on him in his sleep—fucker sleeps pretty heavy after some beers—and maybe try to shut off the hot water when he showers—"

"...what?"

"Shit, and how long has it been since I've had a pizza? Or even a good lay! Fuck, I thought I could meet a nice girl after the meeting and all, but—"

"My, you like to talk! Maybe I should cut out your tongue, and—"

"Nonono, not the tongue! I need that for eating! And cursing out the potato bastard!"

"Well, I think I—"

"Fuck, and then there was that new recipe I wanted to try, I just needed to wait for the tomatoes to ripen!"

"Just—_shut up_ already!"

Romano whimpered. "Don't… don't you know I have relatives from here? Please don't kill me!"

The girl glared at him for a moment, waiting to see if he had anything else to say. When it seemed that he would stay quiet, she replied, "And why should I care at all about you or your relatives?"

"You should care, because, um… because… my relatives are very important!"

"Oh, please, enlighten me, then. Who are you related to who must be soooo important?"

"Um. Yes. Right. My relatives. Well, uh, one of them is a guy... named... An...to...?"

She raised an eyebrow at the name he fumbled on.

"...ni…?"

Recognition, now?

"...o?"

Definitely recognition! ...And then, disbelief. "Are you kidding? Antonio, you said?"

"...Yes? Or… no?"

"You mean to tell me that you—_you!_— are related to Antonio? Felicity's greatest war hero?"

"Um… yes! Sort of? I mean, he used to be, uh, my boss? Caretaker? ...The fuck would I know?"

"You're kidding. You're trying to tell me Antonio, _the_ Antonio the Red Axe, used to be your caretaker?"

An axe...? "Oh, yeah, definitely! Definitely, yes, him and that axe. Yup. Loved to, uh, show it off to me. Swing it around and everything."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it's so! And, you know, he used to tell me all kinds of interesting stories! Stories, about, you know…"

"...how he wanted to kill his enemies in the most grotesque ways possible?"

This world's Antonio sounded eerily close to his Spain, in a way. "Yes! Exactly. Like, um, there was this one time, when he told me how he wanted to cut off some guy's eyebrows with his axe…"

"Oh, do tell!" Suddenly the girl seemed genuinely interested, and she pulled up a chair to listen to Romano. Behind her, the ever silent Klein also leaned forward with interest. "But wait—how rude! We haven't even formally introduced ourselves yet. My name is Lindy, and the big quiet guy over there is my brother, Klein!"

"N-nice to… meet you? I'm, uh, Romano." Shit, should he have really just told her his name?

"Oh, look, this must be so awkward for you. Here, let me get those ropes off."

"Oh… yeah! Of course. Heh. I can let you off the hook for all this, since you're such a pretty lady." Holy hell, the I-have-relatives-from-there excuse actually worked for once! Fuck yeah! ...Of course, that excuse was _always_ fairly reliable, dammit. Anyway, with his bonds now gone, Romano could see himself just talking his way out of here, nice and unharmed. Score one for blatant lying!

"So, did you come here to visit his memorial? Oh, Klein and I are such big admirers of Antonio! His gruesome ways of killing were quite popular news in the demon world."

"...Demon world?"

"Oh, yes! Klein and I are demons too, you know. All of us were sealed in the underworld for a thousand years—but I guess, you overworlders have forgotten aaaall about it by now~!"

"Yeah, don't you know! Totally didn't know about any of that. So, uh… what brings you here now?"

"Hee hee. Well. After a thousand years, the seal was finally weak enough for us to break through! Klein and I were sent out to harvest more energy for the demon world. Don't worry, though—as an honor towards the late Antonio, we'll spare your life in the great uprising that's to come!"

"Harvesting energy?" Finally, things were clicking into place for Romano. "So, the deal with all the crystals, then…"

"That's right~! We're getting our energy straight from the source! Actually, that's why we wanted to kill you at first. We thought that maybe, the overworlders managed to summon a hero from another dimension!"

"That's… oddly specific."

"Well, you know, they'd need someone from a different world by now." Then she waved her hand dismissively. "But what am I going on about now? This is boring! Tell me ~all~ about Antonio!"

"Right, right! Antonio! And… his axe!"

"_Romano!_"

All heads in the room turned to the source of the new voice: America, running in through the open doorway. At the sight of the blond, Romano could feel the pit of his stomach sinking, for some reason.

"There you are, Romano!" America called out. "I thought I heard voices coming from here!" Belatedly, he seemed to realize that there were two other people in the room, and he sent them a quick wave and a smile. "Anyway, I need you to check this out, Romano! It's serious!" He held out a partly-eaten, colorless burger.

"Fuck no," Romano replied.

"I mean it, dude! This is a really big deal!"

Romano shot America a glare. God, the bastard could be overbearing. He snapped the burger out of America's hands and saw the blond encourage him to continue. Shit, he didn't seriously want Romano to… oh wait. Now he was making eating gestures with his hands. _Of course_ the bastard would want him to take a bite out of this… thing. As much as Romano didn't like burgers, even he'd feel bad for them if he lumped this colorless food in with the rest of the burgers.

"Hey—! Excuse me! We were having a conversation!" Lindy stomped her foot and glared at America.

"Dude, just one second!" he said, and then looked back to Romano.

Reluctantly, Romano took a bite out, and—_shit!_ Disgusting! He spat it right back out. "What the fuck, America!?"

"_I know! _That's what I'm saying too!"

"Hey! Don't just dismiss me like that!" The girl called out.

"It has no fucking flavor! Not even… gross burger flavor! ...Although I thought you liked bland food, America. And, shit…" Romano opened the burger and watched as some grainy stuff fell out of it. "The fuck is this shit? Is sand part of the Felicity specialty?"

"Oh, that's salt! I tried putting some on there to give it some flavor, you know?"

"Just how much do you normally use, asshole?"

"_Hey! _Pay attention to me!" Lindy was standing next to them now, shouting and waving her arms.

She pulled on Romano's shoulder, and that's when it dawned on him: "Wait… this world… all the flavors are missing too? Everything… just tastes like nothing?" He could feel the blood drain from his face.

"I know! Isn't it horrible? My god…" America shook his head, and for once, he looked solemn.

"Listen to me when I'm talking!" Lindy smacked America's shoulder, but it seemed to have no effect. "Just who are you? And why are you so surprised about the food, it's been that way for a while now!"

"Huh? ...Oh!" America finally noticed Lindy, and as he prepared to strike one of his usual poses, that sinking feeling returned to Romano. "I'm America!" He held a thumbs-up and had a gleaming white grin on his face. "And I'm the hero!"

"Hold on! Did you say… you're the hero?" The girl turned to Romano. "And _you_, you know him?"

"...What? No! No, of course not! Never saw this bastard before in my life! Ha, ha ha…" Romano tried, wearing a strained smile.

To which America gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder (nearly knocking him over) and said, "Don't be so modest, dude! It's okay to brag about being my sidekick!"

The girl frowned deeper than Romano had seen up to that point, and he could've sworn the very air around her was growing dark. "Soooo… you're heroes, after all? Sent to restore the Ether Crystals, then?"

"You got it! By the way, while we're talking about Ether Crystals, I found this on the way here!" America pulled a blossom-shaped crystal out of his pocket and showed it to Romano; a dim yellow light glowed from inside. "Pretty sure this is the Golden Crystal!"

"The fuck? Where did you find that?" Romano said.

"Haha! Weren't you paying attention on the way in? We're in the Crystal's shrine right now!" America let out an appreciative whistle as he glanced around. "Nice place you got here, by the way!"

Romano finally took a good look around for himself. If this place was anything like the churches in his home world… then he could guess they were in a back room somewhere, where priests prepared for ceremonies and the like. He turned back to the other nation, and just managed to catch that Klein had approached him—"America, look out!"

But it was too late; a loud snap resounded through the room, and Romano watched helplessly as Klein's fist connected with America's face.

And then… nothing happened?

America didn't budge. Instead, he lowered Klein's fist with one hand, and used the other to readjust his glasses. "Hey, man, watch the Texas," he said, frowning at the other man. "What was that even for, dude?" His only reply was the demons' shocked faces, and after a moment, he got into a more defensive stance, fists raised. "What, you're bored? Wanna spar?" He wore a stupid fucking smirk on his face, and Romano couldn't help smacking his own forehead; the fucking moron still didn't understand the situation they were in!

"...Spar, what? I mean—_no_, we don't want to spar!" Lindy said, finally snapping out of it. "Listen up! We're demons, sent here to steal the Crystals' energy and bring the coming of our race to this world!"

"Seriously? You know that it's slowly killing the people here—"

"_Yes_ we know that, and honestly—!" She took a deep breath, and that creepy smile finally returned to her face. "Honestly, we don't care. I can't wait to see the day when we destroy every living thing up here and take this world for ourselves. It's too bad, though—without their emotions here any more, I won't be able to see their faces twist in pain as I slowly murder them."

"...Damn, dude. Now you sound like Russia."

"I don't care! The first deaths in our uprising will be you two interlopers! Klein, come on!"

The girl waved him on, and in a moment, he swung another hook at America's face.

This time, however, America caught the fist with one hand. And with the other, he sent a clean punch to Klein's face, knocking the demon clear off his feet. After a moment, it was clear that Klein wasn't going to wake up any time soon, and America's posture relaxed. "Geeze, he's pretty weak for such a big demon."

Lindy ran to her brother's side, fell to her knees, and started shaking his shoulders. "Klein, wake up! Come on!"

"So, uh..." America cleared his throat awkwardly. "You need a face-punching too?"

"America! You wouldn't dare—not to a lady!" Romano hissed.

"Hey, if that lady is some hell demon who's trying to kill me, then... Well, yeah!"

The girl looked up to both of them, bitterness clear in her eyes. "I won't forget this. Mark my words. I'll let you get away this time, but I swear... Klein and I will have our revenge next time!"

A shiver ran down Romano's spine. That did not sound good... _Shit_.

"Wow, now you sound like a real villain!" America said, and Romano refused to admit that he heard any appreciation in the other's voice. "Anyway, I guess we can go for now! Come on Romano, let's get out of here." When the Italian didn't move right away, America gently tugged him along out of the room.

As they made their way out of the temple, America withdrew the crystal from his pocket again. "Well, so it was pretty easy to find! But you know, now that I think about it... Now what? How do we get it to work again? Any ideas?"

For a moment, Romano was completely silent, unable to organize his jumbled thoughts into words. Finally, one idea became clear in his mind, and he turned to America with a frown. "You're a fucking moron."

"... Right. Guess we'll have to ask around, then! Here, you hang onto this for now." America handed the crystal over to Romano, who stuck it in his magic bag. With that, they headed back to the city, and Romano was definitely not looking forward to the work they had ahead.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>CulturalTranslation Notes:**

Once again, not much to say here this time! Lindy is also named after a mathematician, sort of; named after Ernst Leonard Lindelöf, who I know about because I studied a little about Lindelöf spaces in topology. Man… Lindelöf. Lindelöf. I like that name!

I feel bad for the bland reputation American food has. I guess since I've lived in the US all my life, I'm a bit biased… but still! McDonald's is totally delicious! And there's actually a huge variety of restaurants and regional differences and all that stuff throughout the country… I think anyone can find something they like, even if it takes some asking around!

**Notes for my Awesome Friends who Don't Watch Hetalia: **

Antonio is Spain, and Spain was Romano's caretaker back when Romano was a little kid. Jokingly, Spain would refer to himself as the boss, and Romano as his henchman. Even though Romano's actual brother is North Italy, I think Spain would be the closest person to him, considering all the time the Italy brothers spent apart. And that's why Antonio would be the first relative name that Romano thinks of!

Spain is normally a cheery guy, but he can be pretty scary when he's mad! And he's known to have a battle axe. Considering the horrible rivalry he had with England (aka distinct eyebrows guy) in the past, I can just imagine Romano overhearing Spain whispering under his breath about all the horrible things he wanted to do to England and his eyebrows...

"Please don't kill me! I have relatives from your country!" Both Italies are known for saying this kind of thing to any of their attackers, in an attempt to not get beaten up/killed. Also, when Romano mentions the potato bastard, he's talking about Germany. He's not very happy with how close his brother and Germany have become...

Also, canonically, America is ridiculously strong. Like, superhero strong! And the guy's already been in quite a few wars and had to live through the western expansion not too long ago… in my mind, at least, America is seriously not a guy you'd want to get in a fistfight with.

**Other notes:**

Well, hello again everyone! Here's chapter three! I actually knew pretty much what I wanted to do here, but… damn real life got in the way! Nothing horrible or earth-shattering, but it did just keep me away from writing. I'm hoping the next one won't be too long!

Also, I love personally replying to reviews, but I don't like to use author's notes to do it! If you want a reply (and I guarantee you'll get one if you review XD), then please log in so I can send a direct reply! At least, on fanfic-dot-net. Not sure if I can make reply threads on AO3 with anonymous reviews.

In reply to the guest review I got last time, though—no, I didn't know that about the FDA! It's pretty interesting, though. Glad you're looking forward to more Romerica as much as I am~!

Until next time, everyone!


	4. Not a Happy Camper

It was afternoon, and Romano was sitting in a tavern, waiting for America to show up. He was drinking something that he was pretty sure had some alcohol, but of course, he couldn't fucking taste anything, dammit. He wasn't about to trust the water in this world any time soon, though...

On the table in front of him was the dull and dim Golden Crystal. It looked like a carnation blossom in crystal form.

"Hey Romano! I'm here!" America called out, finally entering the tavern. Took the bastard long enough. He grabbed a drink for himself and took the seat opposite of Romano at the table. "Time to compare info! Let's see… An old lady told me that her husband proposed to her in front of that Crystal like fifty years ago! Isn't that sweet?"

"Oh. Yes. _Very sweet,_" Romano replied, and his sarcasm could almost be considered tangible. "Did you find any _useful_ information, moron?"

"Hm… Nope!" And then America punctuated that annoying statement with an annoying slurp of Unknown Drink.

Romano huffed and leaned back in his seat. "Well, that fucking figures. From what I heard, our best bet would be to ask a priestess of the shrine."

"Oh yeah? And where could we find her?"

"That's the thing!" Romano sat up and waved his hands for emphasis. "This shitty city hasn't had a priestess for _decades_! Even before all this Crystal bullshit went down!"

"Huh. That sucks."

"Yes, America, _that sucks_. The fuck are we supposed to do now? Look through the library? _The whole fucking library_? Because God knows that no one works there anymore!"

"Well… why don't we just go on ahead to the next Crystal? Maybe there'll be a priestess there who can help!"

"Are you fucking serious? That—! Wait." Romano paused and blinked up at America. "That suggestion was actually reasonable."

"Of course! Why do you sound so surprised, man?"

"The fuck kind of question is that? Do you even remember the bullshit you spout at the meetings?"

"Oh yeah! Yeah, haha. Those are great!" When he saw Romano's scowl deepen, America continued, "Come on, do you think anyone besides Germany takes those meetings seriously? I'm pretty sure you don't, either."

"...Fair point."

"There you go! Now come on, let's see where the next Crystal is."

Begrudgingly, Romano pulled out the map; he frowned after giving it a good look. "...The next closest one is fucking far."

"Oh yeah?"

"Looks like it'll take several weeks..."

"Whew! Damn. Guess we better get ready for the trip, huh?" Romano simply groaned in agony. "It shouldn't be too hard, with that magic infinity bag of yours! Why don't you pick up food and supplies we can take along on the journey? I'll see if we can't take some horses with us to help!"

"Horses...?" Romano hadn't thought about that.

"Yeah, man! I bet they've got some stables around here. I'm really good with horses, you know?"

Romano snorted, fighting down the blush that was creeping up his neck. "Yeah, bastard, I know." It's not like Romano helped make a bunch of westerns back in the day. Or generally obsessed over America's cowboys at all. Or fantasized about America himself being a cowboy after that one rodeo the Italian brothers were invited to...

No, of course not. That'd be fucking stupid, dammit!

"...Yo, you okay? Mission control to Romano?" America snapped his fingers in front of Romano's face a few times.

"_Shit_ what—the fuck do chaps have to do with this?!"

"Chaps? Uh... nothing?" America had a confused look on his face, and Romano wasn't going to mentally describe it as cute any time soon, but... fine, fuck it. His face was cute.

"...Exactly! They have nothing to do with what we were talking about or even thinking about just now. I was just, you know... testing you! Good job passing, you... you... deep-fried, burger shoveling, uh... assface."

"Hahaha! Whatever you say, man."

* * *

><p>"Hey there. How about a treat? A nice and tasty treat?" America cooed, holding up some colorless treat to a colorless horse. Romano rolled his eyes as the horse barely took notice of America. After a moment, it simply snorted and turned to pay attention to... fuck if Romano knew. Probably a piece of hay or something.<p>

"Good job, America. We're still stuck here without any horses," Romano said. It was the next day, and they were hoping to leave by now... but America was still stuck on getting any of the horses to work with him.

"Hey, it's not my fault, man! The horses here are all just as bored as the people..." America stepped out of the horse's stall and shut the gate behind him. "What about you? Did you get food and stuff?"

"Of course I did!" Romano patted the bag slung over his shoulder.

"Sweet! Lemme have a look!" Without waiting for a reply, America approached Romano and opened the bag; he dug around inside for a few moments before he finally found some food and withdrew it.

When America saw what he grabbed, he frowned. "Dude. This is flour."

"For making pizza, dumbass!"

"Uh… you know, we can't exactly make pizza out in the woods…"

"Says you! Tasteless bastard."

America tilted his head to the side, seeming to consider what Romano said. And then he replied, "...you know it's not gonna taste like anything anyway, right? None of the food has flavor."

"..._Shit_. I forgot! Fuck."

America slipped the flour back in the bag and gave Romano a little pat on the shoulder. "I know your cooking is supposed to be amazing and all… but not much we can do now, right?"

"Shut up."

"Anyway, we just need to grab something that'll keep while we're out there!" America spared another glance at the listless horses. "Especially because I think we're gonna have to walk after all."

* * *

><p>America took the lead then in getting supplies for the trip—food, drink, bedrolls, anything he thought they needed. At the very least, Romano could appreciate that the shopkeepers were currently too apathetic to care whether their stores got raided—though of course, America would politely ask every time whether it was okay to take things.<p>

For all of the proper supplies that America picked up, however… nothing could prepare Romano for the actual trip. For the toll that he would take from being in this lifeless world for even a few weeks.

The first week was awful for Romano. It was just... camping. And eating nothing but tasteless food, in a colorless world with no weather.

By the second week, Romano was starting to feel fatigued, just in general all the time. Even though they stopped at a town with actual soft beds for a night, Romano could only feel his spirits drop. Despite their efforts and asking around, the pair was still no closer to reactivating the Crystal, and just… what if they could never figure it out? What if this world was too far gone to even help them anymore? And the food was really getting to Romano at this point… it was so tasteless that it was unsatisfying, and lately he'd just been feeling constantly hungry and empty on the inside.

Romano started losing track of the days sometime during week three. By this point, America had well learned that Romano wasn't feeling conversational, so he had been surprisingly quiet most of the time. Annoyingly cheerful, but at the very least, quiet.

At first, Romano welcomed the silence. Soon enough, however, he was starting to grow desperate for some conversation—even if it was annoying—just to take his mind off of everything else. So he tried to strike up some discussion or _something_, but despite his best efforts (as lame as his best was in this state), the silence just dragged on and on. _Dammit_.

The only thing Romano could do consistently, besides walking and _more walking_, was think about his home world. In fact, as the days wore on, he kept thinking about it, even when he didn't want to.

Shit, he could just picture Veneziano weeping in the arms of that damn potato muncher. His stupid brother was too attached to Germany. Romano could imagine them going out for some stupid German dessert now, and it would taste so damn nice that Veneziano would give a stupid airheaded smile. (even though his brother had disappeared.)

How long would it take his brother to move on, anyway? They spent so much time apart, and their reunion wasn't exactly anything special… Veneziano was probably closer to Germany and Japan than he was to his own brother, dammit. Not like it really mattered that much—Veneziano was also a fucking moron who cried every time someone tried to get him to be halfway _useful_, so in a way, maybe being separated would be better. At least then Romano couldn't make the idiot cry every damn day.

So maybe Romano wasn't so close to his brother, and okay, _fine_, he could come to terms with that. But he missed Spain, his closest… relative? The fuck would he call Spain, in relation to him, anyway?

God, he was so desperate now, he could actually (internally) admit to missing Spain. It was nice to have someone look out for him and take care of him and actually care to keep in touch.

Although they had been more distant in recent times. Romano supposed that Spain was glad to have him out of the house, no longer messing up the study, making guests feel uncomfortable, and forcing the guy to lose sleep.

Shit, did he ever thank Spain for taking care of him? God he felt like an ingrate. Maybe Spain wasn't always around the house, and maybe he tried a few times to trade Romano for his brother… but fucking shit, could he really blame him? Romano was a shitty kid, and even as an adult, he was an asshole who couldn't give proper thanks to the guy who took care of him for some centuries. Hell, he couldn't even go five minutes in Spain's presence without cursing out the poor guy… and Romano couldn't even remember very well what Spain did that was so annoying in the first place...

Romano blinked out of his miserable thoughts one night when the light of the fire suddenly went out, thanks to America. Bedtime, already. At least, when Romano slept, he couldn't be hungry or depressed. As Romano settled into his bedroll, he tried to give a quick gauge of the time that they spent here by now. Was it still week four, or did they already move into week five? Maybe it was already week six, even… but it couldn't be later than that, right?

"Sweet dreams, dude!" America called out, cheery as ever, and Romano instinctively snapped his head to the side to face the other nation. Fuck, America hasn't shown a single sign of worry or weariness this whole time. Didn't he care about how their world was faring without him? ...Did he think about England at all? Romano couldn't really tell what was up with their relationship… though to be fair, he never cared in the first place. Did America have any other relatives worried about him? Hmm… Maybe? Now Romano was just drawing a blank.

It wasn't long before the thoughts of Veneziano and Spain moving on without him continued their infinite replay. Though... he supposed he shouldn't be selfish. If he could never make it back, then it'd be for the better if they just forgot about him...

The nights here were so damn dark and dead quiet. By now, the makeup of the forest had changed slightly from when they started; the trees were more thin and winding, with sparser canopies. Some moonlight could actually filter in, and every night before he fell asleep, Romano could see stars through the leaves.

Back on Earth, darkness and silence would dominate over life and color in the middle of the night. It was during times like these that this world felt just a tiny bit familiar… familiar enough for Romano to drift off into a fitful sleep...

* * *

><p>He didn't know how he got here, but now Romano was swimming in the middle of the water, actually blue and beautiful. He couldn't tell how deep he was, but somehow… he didn't care. He had no trouble breathing.<p>

Suddenly, there was America, approaching him shirtless, and… with a fish tail? Oh, damn, was he a merman now?

"Hey, Romano, it's great at the bottom of the sea, isn't it?" America said. God, America's stupid blue eyes… they were even more captivating than the ocean.

After a moment, Romano pried his eyes away and glanced up. "We're all the way at the bottom?" He still couldn't tell how far they were.

"Sure are! It's easy if you come prepared." America held his hands out to either side of Romano's face, and suddenly the Italian realized he had some kind of round… casing, or something, around his head.

He couldn't tell what it was made of. He reached up to touch it as America withdrew his hands, but before he could really think about it, America spoke up again: "Hey, Romano, you ever wonder how humans and merfolk do each other in all those legends?"

"...Well fuck, you read my mind, bastard."

"Then I'll show you!" America swam to him and wrapped his tail around Romano's legs, and held his shoulders from behind. "But first I gotta tell you something! Merfolk are super good at lying. So instead of sex, I'm just gonna go ahead and eat your arms now, all right?"

There was a searing pain in his arm, and Romano bolted upright, reflexively shouting curses.

He looked around. He was back in the damn forest now, middle of the night, and his arm had gotten stuck in some gnarled roots. _Fuck, shit, ow._

"Dude, you all right?"

Romano screeched at the familiar voice and felt his heart pick up when he turned and barely saw America's face, lit up in the dim moonlight.

"Hey, calm down!" America reached out, and Romano flinched instinctively.

Until he realized that America was not, in fact, some crazy fucking merman bent on eating his arms. Romano let out a deep breath and finally relaxed. "I'm fine now, bastard."

"Had a nightmare?"

"...Yeah. But whatever, it doesn't matter. Go back to sleep, dumbass." Romano lied back down, rubbing his injured arm. Luckily, it didn't seem to be hurt too badly, and already the pain was wearing off.

The noise of America rustling back into his covers sounded, and for a moment, it seemed like there would be peaceful silence again. But of course… America had to go and ruin it. "You been sleeping okay?"

"Tch. What do you care?"

"Of course I care! You're my sidekick, you can't be tired!"

"I can and I will. Just watch me, bastard." Romano pointedly pulled up his covers and rolled to face away from America. Even though he knew America wouldn't be able to see the gesture in this darkness. It's the thought that counts, dammit!

"Aw, come on, don't be that way. Do you want to sleep with me?"

Romano shot back into a sitting position and glared at the other nation. "What!? The fuck are you getting at!?"

"Hm? I thought maybe it'd help. I, I mean… well, you know… when I was little, and I had a bad dream, I'd, uh... well, I'd go and sleep with England for the night." America said the last part rather quickly.

"... Oh."

"Yeah! Yup! Geeze, haha… you didn't think I meant the other thing, did you?"

"Shut up! It—it doesn't matter, anyway! I'm sleeping on my own, thank you very much! Don't need to get flattened by a fat monster like you during the night."

And then there was silence, and that was that. As Romano settled back into his covers, he could feel his heart sink. Okay, maybe it'd be weird for him to just cuddle with the burger bastard all of a sudden... But shit, he did miss his friends, and general human contact...

Romano didn't know how long the silence dragged on for, and he could've sworn that the other nation was asleep by now… but finally, America spoke up again. "Romano. I get that we weren't exactly friends before all this happened... and I get that you're not exactly my biggest fan, but... well... right now, we only have each other. We'll have to rely on one another to get out of here, you know?"

Romano tightened his grip on the blanket and felt his chest clench and throat dry. What was he supposed to say to that?

"... Romano? You there?"

"Y-yeah. I'm here." Romano rolled over and faced the vague blob of a shadow that he knew was America. "You. Um. ...If… if sleeping next to me is going to make you feel better, then just say so, bastard."

"Ah, right! Haha. I'll keep that in mind for next time, then."

With that, Romano moved his bedroll over and settled back in. He could feel America roll up next to him, even though they were separated by their blankets. At this moment, they probably looked like... like two burritos cuddling up next to each other.

...Shit, Romano, what the fuck kind of comparison was that?

Behind him, Romano heard America hum in pleasure, and then could feel his breath just brush behind his ear. Romano would not admit that it made him feel warm.

"Man, it'd been a while since I could interact with someone who actually has a body temperature. I forgot how nice it felt!"

"Don't get any funny ideas, bastard."

"Haha! I wasn't thinking of it like that. I think you're the one who's got all the funny ideas, Romano."

"Shut up!"

"Hey man, don't worry about it. It just feels nice now, right?"

"...Maybe. I dunno."

America let out a quiet laugh, and Romano could feel the vibrations from it through his blanket. "Come on, you must've shared your bed when you were little, right? At least, when you were scared?"

Romano scoffed. He really didn't want to answer that. But... he could tell that America was reluctant when he himself volunteered that information. And it was true that they'd need to rely on each other, so they'd have to build trust and that sort of shit. "Hm... Yeah, I did do that, bastard. Spain was always there and let me into his bed when I had a nightmare. And before that was Grandpa Rome..."

Remembering the love he got from Spain and Rome was nice for Romano. In the peace and quiet of the night, laying next to America, the nostalgia truly struck him. The way they'd hold up the blanket and smile at him, and it was always so cozy, even when it was cold outside. Spain would stroke his hair and promise to play with him, out in the sun, the next day. Grandpa would tell him how everything was okay and he'd always be there to take care of his grandson...

It was... nice, to think about. Pleasant. Romano didn't think he felt this nice ever since he arrived in this world.

Next to him, America relaxed and let out a breath, which again ruffled Romano's hair. "That sounds really nice. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with England in the end... but, well… the memories aren't all bad, you know?"

It... It made Romano happy to hear that. He knew America had a short childhood and a rough parting from his mentor... so it was good to know that the time wasn't completely bad.

Romano felt so warm on the inside.

And now that he thought about it, he was warm on the outside as well. But it wasn't coming from America...

Simultaneously, the two of them perked up and glanced at the source of the warmth: it was coming from Romano's bag, which currently gave off a yellow glow.

They sat up and Romano pulled the bag over, fishing for the source of the light and warmth. He withdrew the Golden Crystal, which was now brilliantly shining, a golden yellow color, and feeling extremely pleasant to the touch.

"Look at that! It's back!" America said, leaning in for a closer look. "It's nice."

"... Yeah. I wonder why..." Was it because they felt happy just now?

"Hm. Well. Who cares! What matters is that we finally got it working again!" America pulled the Crystal out of Romano's hands and tucked it in the covers, between them. "Also, this is going to make sleeping _awesome_."

At first Romano was at a loss for words, but then... well, shit, the bedroll did feel fucking _heavenly_ now. "You might have a good point."

"'Course I do!" America flopped back into bed and pulled up the covers. "Damn this is great. Good night, Romano!"

Romano's breath hitched, and even though it was the middle of the night, he felt like he was bathing in rays of sunshine. Slowly, he lowered himself back to bed. His throat felt tight again, and he couldn't make himself say anything, even though he wanted to.

For the first time since arriving here, Romano felt truly blissful, and he could drift off to a pleasing and fulfilling sleep.

...Good night to you too, America.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>TranslationCulture/whatever notes:**

Romano sticking with alcohol in the beginning: Not sure how commonly known this is, but the bacteria that contaminates fresh water and causes diarrhea and dysentery and all that fun stuff, can't thrive in alcohols. Back in the day, before on-demand, clean water was a thing, people would mainly drink some type of alcohol.

Romano and his westerns: I heard it was a thing some few decades ago that western movies were really popular in Italy, and that that country made a hell of a shit lot of westerns themselves! Yeah, I'm not so savvy on film knowledge. XD Still though, I will totally take this little bit of information to mean that Romano has totally 100% got a thing for cowboys and watching America do rodeos and like… cowboy stuff! That headcannon can't be tamed, man.

**Extra Notes:**

Nothing particularly unique I can think of this time. But as always, I can't thank you lovely readers enough for sticking with my little story so far! Each of you is an awesome person, and I hope you all enjoy the chapters to come! Until next time~!


	5. Rhapsody in Blue

When the next day came, Romano and America could see how their surroundings changed. Now the various shades of yellow had returned, to all the objects that normally had them. Everything looking like either yellow, or no color, was still fairly bland… but Romano was relieved all the same. One color was better than none at this point.

The air felt different, too. Now it was just warm, and pleasant, like a nice afternoon by the Mediterranean coast. Looking to the map, the pair of them were heading for a coast, actually…

"Hey Romano! Look at these!" America pulled the Italian from his thoughts, holding up some flowers and leaves. The flowers were yellow and bright, and… they were all braided together.

"What the fuck, America? You made a flower crown? Seriously?"

"Yup! I used to do this kinda shit all the time as a kid. I can do it without even looking!" He tossed the crown onto Romano's head (t_hat son of a bitch_) and plucked up some more of the pretty flowers. He then continued walking on, and as if to prove his point, he started weaving it all together without looking down at his hands.

Romano snorted and reflexively stuffed the crown into his bag. "That's nice. And lame."

"What? I thought you were into arts and crafts and all that."

"Bastard, that's my brother you're thinking about."

"Huh. You don't do it yourself? Even a little bit?"

Yes, but Romano wasn't about to let _anyone_, much less this dolt, in on that little fact. The last thing he needed was to have other people looking at his shitty art and… _ugh_… pretend to like it. "Nope. It's stupid, and so are you."

America just shrugged it off and they continued on, towards a town on the coast called Pensa.

* * *

><p>They weren't very far from the town at that point, and it took them less than a week to reach it. The sun was very warm and pleasant in this town, and there were no roads; only soft sand covered the ground.<p>

"Nice! This place is a beach!" America's face lit up, and within moments he had his shoes and socks off. Soon enough, he was handing those off to Romano, passing his jacket, gloves, and tie along as well; the Italian begrudgingly put them away in his bag. "Man, I'm loving this place already! Finding the next Crystal should be—oh!" America cut himself off with a gasp, staring off to… something, in the distance. "Look! I bet that place serves food!"

"...Okay? That's nice." It all tasted the same, and they still had plenty to eat on them...

"Come on, we should get some! The Golden Crystal is back now, something's gotta be different, right?"

"Dumbass, you only think with your stomach! The change is going to be so small, it's not worth going out of our way for it! And besides, we don't have any money. So let's just find a priestess and that Crystal and get the fuck out of here."

"Damn, dude, what crawled into your ass and died? It'll only be a few minutes—they might give away samples or something!"

"Tch, then _you_ go on ahead, asshole."

"Just what I was thinking! Should I grab anything for you?"

Romano's instinct was to say no, but then he realized… he fucking missed flavors. Sure, he was usually picky about what he ate, but if he had the chance now to just taste _something_ after all this time... "Fine, get something for me too, bastard. I'll catch up in a little bit."

"Roger!" America eagerly rolled up his pant legs and sleeves, and then darted off to some building further out.

Romano, in the meantime, looked for a local to speak with. Thankfully, there were people actually milling around out here this time… so things were starting to look a little more normal, at least. He stuffed away his shoes, belt, jacket—everything but his pants and thin shirt—into his bag; then he rolled his pant legs high up and opened his shirt. Time to ask around, dammit.

The first person he saw was sitting on the ground, and that looked fairly typical for a beach… until Romano walked around to face the man, and fucking saw him eating sand. _What the fuck?_

The man had an expression of childish glee on his face, and once he saw Romano, he smiled ever wider and then started talking. Or at least, he tried; his mouth was so stuffed with sand that his words were muffled, and—_disgusting! _He was spitting up sand on Romano!

Romano hopped back, and with a short, "fuck no!", he stalked off to find someone more… _normal._

Next he tried speaking with a woman, but when she turned around, Romano got even more freaked out—she had fresh blood, dripping down the side of her face. "Isn't it wonderful!?" she said, and she grabbed Romano's shoulders, wearing a huge creepy smile on her face. "Look, I can bleed! And I can feel pain! It's a sign that I'm truly living—it's so great to be alive!"

"_Shit!_" Romano shrieked and wriggled out of her grasp, and then he fucking _ran for it_. When he felt that he gained enough distance, he turned back towards the woman, and saw her hit her head repeatedly against the wall.

Okay, seriously, _fuck these Crystals._ The people were way the fuck more normal when they were just apathetic all the time!

Once he calmed his nerves, Romano sighed and reluctantly gave his search another try. It took some few minutes, but finally, he found a man who didn't seem unbearably hyperactive, or injured. Or both, for that matter.

"Hey!" Romano called out to the man, "can you tell me where the Azure Crystal is? And do you have, um, any priestesses around here?"

"Hey there! Wow, you're forward, I like that! Hahaha."

"...Okay." Romano crossed his arms and huffed. Come on, please let this person be halfway normal!

"And so expressive! Wow, I haven't seen anyone like you for a while! You're amazing!"

"...um. Thanks...?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome!" The man gave Romano a hearty pat on the shoulder, and just as the Italian opened his mouth to ask his questions again, the man finally answered. "Yeah, the Azure Crystal! It's at the bottom of the sea, didn't you know? Haha!"

"...No, I didn't know. Asshole." Romano glanced over to the calm waters that he could see from here. "Quit joking around, this is important! Seriously, where is the damn Crystal?"

"Ha! Don't believe me? It's the truth!" Romano's only response was to deepen his frown, so the man continued, "in fact, since you're looking for the priestess, why don't you ask her? She lives in a little house, on that cliff overlooking the sea. Can't miss it! Oh, it's got such a great view…"

Romano could see the cliff from where he was, so at least that was _something_ he could investigate. "...Thanks. I guess." He gave the man a curt nod and headed for the building he saw America run to. Better to regroup before that dumbass wandered out too far, or got lost.

The building had some smoke coming from the top, and based on what Romano could see, it did look like a place to eat. Leave it to the gluttonous moron to zero in on a restaurant the moment they arrived. Well, if the large number of people flocking to the restaurant was any indication, at least this place would be decent. Maybe.

Damn. There really were a lot of people. Too goddamn many. Romano had a hard time shoving past them to get inside. Once he finally made it in, the place was so damn full that he wondered if he'd be able to find America.

Luckily, it wasn't as hard for Romano as he thought it'd be: it turned out that all the people inside were congregating around one area. One person, more like. And of course… that person was America. Motherfucker!

After gratuitous amounts of shoving and elbowing, Romano finally made it to the front of the crowd. And there was America, holding on to a cup and addressing one of the members of the crowd. Currently, he was laughing and running his free hand through his hair, in a way that Romano could immediately tell was showing off. "Actually," America finally said, "I'm a lot older than I look!" Cheers, laughter, and squeals erupted from the people around him, and Romano couldn't help but jump.

"_Son of a bitch!_ America! What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Romano shouted.

"...Huh? Oh, hey, Romano! Come on up here—I've got some chocolate for you!" America waved the other nation on. "The Golden Crystal brought back the flavor of sweetness, isn't that awesome?"

Reluctantly, Romano joined America; he did not like being surrounded by such a large crowd. He took the drink America offered him and was about to take a sip, when he suddenly remembered all of the rage he felt in the first place. "Wait a damn second! America! Just what the hell is going on here!?"

"Well, all these people got really excited to meet me! I didn't think the whole town would come in here just for me, though, haha!" Stupid fucking braggart. "But I can understand why they're happy to see me—I'm the hero!"

Various cheers and agreements on that swelled from the crowd, and Romano clutched at his cup tighter, feeling an instinctive sort of annoyance. Was this jealousy? Okay, it was probably jealousy. "Hey, everyone, what about me? I'm also one of the Crystal Heroes!" His eyes scanned across the crowd and his frown tightened.

The surrounding people murmured a general sort of agreement—well, yes, there was nothing saying that there weren't two heroes out there trying to help, and Romano was clearly in full color… but then all eyes were back on America.

"America is the perfect example of what a hero should be!"

"He's going to save our world!"

"Oh, America is like a dream come true!"

Romano let out a low growl and felt the instinctive annoyance spike into a fiery rage that exploded in his chest and shot all the way out to his hands and feet. He grabbed onto America's sleeve, and _yanked_, taking some satisfaction in the surprised look the other gave him. "Come on, bastard. We need to get going."

America answered, "But I was thinking—"

"_Now._"

America's mouth snapped shut, and maybe… just maybe, he looked a little sheepish. _Good._ America turned back to face the circle of people around them and waved amicably. "Hey, I'm so glad you all came out to see me! But me and my sidekick here have to go now." The crowd let out a collective sound of disappointment, and America's stupid smile grew wider and more accommodating. "Hero business, you know! Gotta take some time for the important stuff! But don't worry—I'm sure you'll all see me around sometime soon!"

Romano had to consciously keep his trembling fists in check, so he wouldn't _fucking punch something_. Preferably America's face. Did Romano think the bastard ever looked sheepish? Fuck no! Just a mistake in judgment, dammit.

* * *

><p>After Romano had to drag the idiot out of the restaurant by one arm—while America used his other arm to wave at his fans and say nice things to them—they were finally outside and heading towards the priestess's house. It was a little bit of a walk to get there, as her house was built rather far from the rest of the town, but <em>fuck—<em>Romano could appreciate the scarce population at this point.

The pleasant weather and warm sand did little to ease Romano's nerves, especially because the lumbering moron next to him was fucking beaming and occasionally humming something stupid under his breath. _Dammit_, Romano thought, _I should have just left this idiot behind and gone alone._ Just because they were both summoned at first, it didn't mean that they both needed to do all this bullshit together all the time, right?

Not even the chocolate drink that America handed him could make him feel better. It was sweet, sure, but that's all it was; it didn't have the full flavor of chocolate. Well, at least it wasn't Hershey's, thank god.

Finally, the pair of them reached the top of the small cliff that overlooked the sea. It really was a nice view from up there. And just as the man said to Romano earlier, there was a house up here—just one, something rather simple and cozy looking. After a few minutes of looking around and knocking on the door, they finally went around to the back and saw a woman relaxing on a long cushioned chair outside.

The woman had long hair, dressed lightly, and seemed blissfully unaware of the other people present. Romano didn't want to bother a pretty lady like her, but oh hey look—America was going to do that for him. _How lovely_.

"Hey there, lady! Are you the priestess?" the blond asked, walking up to her and waving.

The woman was hardly startled; instead she slowly shifted her weight and cracked her eyes open. Was she sleeping just now? "Yes, that's me. Hmmm, I'm Lady Espra. And who are you?" She finally tilted her head towards the nations, but her eyes still looked unfocused. Yeah, she was definitely asleep just now.

"I'm America, and I'm the he—"

Romano shoved America and said, "And I'm Romano. Nice to meet you." Holy shit Romano was sick of hearing about America's stupid hero bullshit.

"Oh, nice to meet you too! But hold on," Espra's senses were finally picking up again, somewhat, and she sat up. "You're both in all color. Are you here to restore the Crystals?"

"Yup! Because… _We're the heroes!_" America declared, and Romano sent him a glare that could melt steel.

"It makes me happy to hear that. Since you're… wait." Espra seemed suddenly taken by something, and she eased herself onto her feet, stepping up to America. He must not have been expecting anything weird to happen, which sort of sucked for him, because Espra then proceeded to slip off his glasses and gently pull his face towards hers. She jerked her head up, and _shit was she going to kiss him—_wait, no, she stopped just short of that, and _seriously what the fuck was going on!? _At least America had the decency to redden and look a little embarrassed.

"Your eyes," she finally said, "they're _beautiful._ It's been so long since I've seen such gorgeous eyes… truly, you are the one to restore our Crystal."

"Uh, um… thanks…" America's breath hitched. He stood stock still and the blush only spread. That fucking bastard.

"Hee, you're so shy. You must have had a hard time moving through town with eyes like those."

"Uh."

"Blue eyes are considered a very attractive trait in Pensa, you see. And yours in particular… they look just like the Azure Crystal…" Espra's smile grew, and she just kept _staring_ into America's eyes, looking as happy as though she just connected with her soulmate or something.

Wait, wait, hold up! The fuck was going on?! And did they just forget about Romano or what?! Seriously, _what the fuck!_

Before Romano could think of a way to interrupt this awkward fucking moment, America finally spoke up again. "U-uh… can I have m-my Tesses back? Texas? G, glasses? Please?"

Espra giggled, and after one final wistful look, she finally backed down and handed America his glasses. "I forget how shy you little humans can be sometimes. Hee hee."

"Uh, right—hey! I'm not shy!" America said this a little too loudly to be convincing, and he was doing a horrible job of fighting down his blush.

Romano rolled his eyes and jabbed America with an elbow before the idiot could say anything else stupid. "Just a second. You're not a human? You wouldn't be a demon, would you?" Romano seriously did not want to interact with any more of those.

"I'm not a demon! I'm a mermaid!" The nations both shot her an incredulous look, and dammit, she just laughed as though they told her a funny fucking joke. "I'm one of the rare kinds who can switch between having legs or a tail! Oh, you wouldn't believe how nice it is, to be able to lay on the land and sunbathe all day… you humans are so lucky to all be born on this side of the surface. Honestly, I just don't know how anyone in this town can get things done, when they can just soak up the sun instead..." Espra stretched lazily and finally sat back down on her chair.

Then there was silence, and she sprawled back out over the chair, and _hey!_ Was she going back to sleep!? "Oi, Lady. Priestess. Espra. We had some questions for you… if you please," Romano said.

She perked back up and faced the others again. "Haha, of course! Go ahead, I'm listening."

"...Right. Okay, so first, where is the Azure Crystal?"

"Hm, it should still be in its shrine… and that would be located on the bottom of the sea."

"You've got to be fuck—you've got to be kidding me." Shit, Romano didn't like cursing in front of nice ladies like her. "How are we supposed to get there?"

"Actually," America added, "can't you just turn into a mermaid and grab the Crystal for us?"

"Oh, usually it would be no problem! But the magic I use to transform and to open the water for human visitors, it's all linked to that Azure Crystal. Sorry boys, you're out of luck there." Espra shrugged a shoulder, looking as insincere as possible.

"Well… can we swim?" America asked.

"Hee hee, that'd be funny to watch. It's far too deep, you humans would run out of breath in no time." The nations both let out a frustrated sigh, and after a moment, Espra's eyes widened slightly, as though she came to a realization. "Oh, but the Golden Crystal is back! So, if you visit a magic craftsperson, they'll be able to help you. The Golden Crystal is the source for our shielding magic, so you should be able to use that underwater. You know what I mean?"

America nodded and Romano said, "Yes, we get it. And, while I'm thinking about the Golden Crystal… tell me, how is it that we reactivate these? We only got that first one by chance."

"Haha, that's lucky! The Crystals will reactivate when they're exposed to the emotion they govern. It has to be pretty strong, too."

"So, basically… it's like a jump, right?" America asked.

Espra gave him an odd look and laughed again. "Haha, I don't know what a jump is! But maybe you get the jist of it. The Golden Crystal is the source of happiness, so it could have only come back when at least one of you experienced a moment full of pure happiness. See what I mean?" The nations both nodded and then she continued, "The Azure Crystal is the source of our ability to think deeply, be curious. Pensa has always been known for its scholars, and if we get that Crystal back up, then our people here will once again be able to have thoughtful debates, and long nights of developing philosophies and inventions. Oh... if I could see that again, it would make me so happy!"

"So, once we get the Azure Crystal, we have to think really hard or something to restore it," Romano mused. Then he turned to America and added, "guess it's going to be up to me for that one."

America shrugged off the comment and turned back to the priestess. "So tell me, what flavor comes back when we do this one?"

"The flavor of saltiness—just like the sea! I'd love to have that again, too…" Espra replied, and she let out a blissful sigh.

"Oh man, that'd be awesome!" America exclaimed, and then he turned to Romano. "Well, I think I learned everything I needed. You good to go too?" Romano simply nodded, and with that, they both thanked Espra and gave her their goodbyes. As they left, they could see her lounge back over her chair again. Did she just enjoy the sun all day now, and nothing else? Romano supposed it was better to do that than to be holed up at home doing nothing, though.

As they returned to town, looking for some kind of magic craftsperson, Romano caught sight of the restaurant they were in earlier. Their chocolate was appropriately sweet, but it was still missing something: chocolate is supposed to be a little bitter, too. Romano frowned. If they had to be truly happy to bring sweetness back, then what would they have to do to restore the bitterness?

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

* * *

><p>Pensa, a sunny town full of people who admire AlfredAmerica... sounds like my kind of place! Aw yeah.

I really like this chapter, and look, I don't even have to write up a lot of notes! For those curious, "Pensa" is based on the Spanish word "pensar", which means "to think". Felicity, Pensa... no questions on what these places are dedicated to, huh? Also, chapter title is the name of a jazz-classical piece by George Gershwin, which I am quite fond of~

Thanks again so much for reading, and I'll see you all around next time~!

EDIT: Oh my freaking fuck, it was only _after_ I posted this that I realized I didn't finish fixing the formatting! Go me. XD I think this site sends an alert for edited chapters too, and if so, I just want to say that the edit is really not a big deal. I just... I forgot to change the - dashes to — dashes. Oopsie. Everything else is exactly the same, though!


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